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Daily Bafflements

Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix / U.S. Library of Congress

• Today is “404 Day,” organized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other groups to bring attention to Internet censorship in public libraries and schools.

• Today is also the 212th birthday of Dorothea Dix, an activist for the poor and mentally ill. She lobbied state governments and Congress to provide better care for people who were being locked up in jail for the lack of mental health treatment that they could not afford. Her efforts led to the establishment of some of the first mental asylums. Today, after decades of state and federal budget cuts, many of those efforts have been reversed.

• On the lighter side, the Koch brothers are forming an improv comedy troupe. So, that’s good.

• And here you will find photos of George W. Bush’s painted portraits of famous world leaders, including Hamid Karzai, the Dalai Lama, and Tony Blair, as revealed on the Today show this morning.